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Melanie Brown appears to have lost her place on the judging panel of Australia's Got Talent after a judge Down Under extended an injunction banning her from the show.

The former Spice Girls singer was at the centre of a bitter legal spat between rival Australian TV networks after she left the Down Under version of The X Factor and signed up for the new season of Australia's Got Talent.

Executives at The X Factor's home channel, the Seven Network, alleged Brown had broken the terms of her contract by agreeing to join Australia's Got Talent on Channel Nine, and took their complaint to court, winning a temporary injunction preventing the star from appearing on the rival show.

The case went back to New South Wales Supreme Court in Sydney this week (beg15Apr13) and a judge has now extended the order until January 2014, meaning Brown will be unable to take up her place on the seventh season of Australia's Got Talent, which is about to start filming.

Justice David Hammerschlag ruled, "The problem is with Mel... Under the agreement, Mel has an obligation to provide her exclusive services to Seven and Seven is entitled to her performance of this obligation.

"I see no reason why she should not be ordered to keep her word that she would not work for anyone but Seven in Australia in 2013."

A Seven spokeswoman says, "(The network) welcomes the decision of the court upholding its contract with Mel B and preventing her working for a competitor in breach of contract in 2013."

The ruling has reportedly left Australia's Got Talent bosses desperately searching for a last-minute replacement to take Brown's place on the panel, and local reports suggest the singer's former bandmate Geri Halliwell is currently the favourite.

The panel also includes recently appointed new judge, British funnywoman Dawn French.